Answer the following questions:
- What is El Nio?
- What is La Nia?
- How do El Nio and La Nia differ?
By modifying the Pacific jet streams, El Nio and La Nia can affect temperature and precipitation across the United States. The influence on the U.S. is strongest during the Northern Hemisphere winter. This map shows typical impacts of La Nia on U.S. winter weather. These impacts have been associated with La Nia events in the past, but not all of these impacts happen during every La Nia episode.
Answer the following question:
- Based on the wintertime La Nia weather map, what do you think Florida’s temperature and precipitation would be like during a winter El Nio event?
Global Impacts
El Nio and La Nia have their strongest impact on global climate during the Northern Hemisphere winter and early spring.
El Nio and La Nia are opposite patterns. El Nio warms, and La Nia cools large areas of the tropical Pacific, which influences where and how much it rains there. This disrupts the atmospheric circulation patterns, which affect the mid-latitude jet streams. By modifying the jet streams, ENSO can affect temperature and precipitation across the United States and in other parts of the world.
Answer the following question:
- Choose one region on the world map. How does the climate there differ during El Nio and La Nia?
El Nio was responsible for the following events in 2015:
- 16 tropical cyclones in the central Pacific hurricane basin
- three category 4 hurricanes occurred at the same time
- emergency water rationed in St. Lucia and San Juan
- 65 percent of Antigua’s farmers went out of business
- northern, central, and southeastern Ethiopian highlands received 5090 percent of their normal rainfall
Answer the following question:
- Select one of the effects from the list. Explain how the El Nio event affected weather, food production, water supply, or human health. What is a possible solution to reduce the damaging effects?
Making Your Presentation
It’s time to use your technology skills to show what you have learned about El Nio and La Nia. Your presentation will be a slideshow that does the following:
- explains El Nio and La Nia
- compares and contrasts El Nio and La Nia
- makes predictions about the effects of El Nio and La Nia on local climate
- illustrates the effects of El Nio on real-world issues
- provides a solution for the damaging effects of an El Nio and La Nia event
Procedure
Select a program of your choice (Microsoft PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, etc.) to create a slideshow presentation. Add images that will help illustrate your answers. Be sure to cite the sources of the images. Follow the template below to create your slideshow. Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation in your slideshow.
- Slide One: Introduction
- Describe El Nio and La Nia in your own words.
- Add at least one image to add interest.
- Slide Two: Compare and Contrast
- Explain how El Nio and La Nia differ.
- Add at least one image to clarify the differences.
- Slide Three: Data Analysis
- Explain how the climate in a specific region differs during El Nio and La Nia.
- Add at least one image to clarify the climate differences.
- Slide Four: Effects
- Describe how an El Nio event affected weather, food production, water supply, or human health.
- Use at least one image to illustrate the effect(s).
- Slide Five: Conclusion
- Provide a possible solution to reduce the damaging effects of an El Nio or La Nia event.
- Use at least one image to clarify the solution.
